The UK carrier Three*has announced that it will begin its 4G LTE rollout in four major UK cities starting in December of this year, with a further 42 cities due to be added by the end of 2014. According to its website, London, Birmingham (including the surrounding West Midlands), Manchester, and Reading will receive 4G coverage by the end of the year. Unlike other British carriers, Three is not charging a premium for its 4G services, as long as customers have compatible devices.

Customers who have compatible devices (Three's 4G network will work on the 800 MHz and 1,800 MHz frequencies on LTE bands 3 and 20) will be automatically upgraded with no extra fees. The carrier is also notable for being the only UK operator to offer truly unlimited mobile data with no exceptions, dubbed 'all-you-can-eat data' by the company.

Three already claims the fastest 3G network in the UK due to the implementation of HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA technology, which allow theoretical browsing speeds of up to 6 and 12 Mbps respectively. The company claims its 4G network will allow browsing speeds of up to 14 Mbps, which although is almost five times faster than standard 3G speeds, it still puts it behind the leader EE, which has doubled its LTE browsing speeds in several UK cities, allowing for theoretical browsing of up to 60 Mbps.

Three, along with the other British carriers EE, O2 and Vodafone, will all support LTE browsing on the new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, both of which were announced yesterday at Apple's iPhone event in Cupertino, California. Both devices are compatible with the 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz frequencies, which were unsupported by the iPhone 5. Both O2 and Vodafone now allow customers to register their interest for the new devices, which are due to be released next week.

So are 4G and LTE the same thing? When we're connected will it say 4G or LTE in the corner? What's the difference? Really good on Three to do this. After EE monopolised the market and ripped people off, it's a breath of fresh air to see a network which just wants to give its customers the best. Three has always been really great value.

Not that i am in a rush to have 4g i can not upgrade untill november with 3 but it comes across as a slow process to get 4g rolled out. The propper plus side to this is that it will still be unlimited data which at times is much faster than my broadbrand speeds so i am looking foward to this when it dose hit my home city

Three have certainly stepped up their game over the last few years.
I don't use my phone enough to warrant paying out for a contract so I am on their PAYG plan. It costs me 1p per MB for data and at fantastic speeds with incredibly good signal, and to add LTE at no extra cost is a fantastic move and one I'll be very pleased to see.
Even their customer support is excellent now!

Three's own speed estimates seem rather conservative. I just did a speed test in London on my iPad 4 on 3G and got 17.43Mbps down. That's more than they're estimating for LTE. Presumably these are averages?

Three's own speed estimates seem rather conservative. I just did a speed test in London on my iPad 4 on 3G and got 17.43Mbps down. That's more than they're estimating for LTE. Presumably these are averages?

Yep, there's a tweet from customer services saying those numbers are what they consider will be average speeds, not top speed.

The UK carrier Three*has announced that it will begin its 4G LTE rollout in four major UK cities starting in December of this year, with a further 42 cities due to be added by the end of 2014. According to its website, London, Birmingham (including the surrounding West Midlands), Manchester, and Reading will receive 4G coverage by the end of the year. Unlike other British carriers, Three is not charging a premium for its 4G services, as long as customers have compatible devices.

Customers who have compatible devices (Three's 4G network will work on the 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz frequencies on LTE bands 3 and 20) will be automatically upgraded with no extra fees. The carrier is also notable for being the only UK operator to offer truly unlimited mobile data with no exceptions, dubbed 'all-you-can-eat data' by the company.

Three already claims the fastest 3G network in the UK due to the implementation of HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA technology, which allow theoretical browsing speeds of up to 6 and 12 Mbps respectively. The company claims its 4G network will allow browsing speeds of up to 14 Mbps, which although is almost five times faster than standard 3G speeds, it still puts it behind the leader EE, which has doubled its LTE browsing speeds in several UK cities, allowing for theoretical browsing of up to 60 Mbps.

Three, along with the other British carriers EE, O2 and Vodafone, will all support LTE browsing on the new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, both of which were announced yesterday at Apple's iPhone event in Cupertino, California. Both devices are compatible with the 800 MHz and 2,600 MHz frequencies, which were unsupported by the iPhone 5. Both O2 and Vodafone now allow customers to register their interest for the new devices, which are due to be released next week.

In the south east, Vodafone can't even manage 2G most of the time. I long for the time when i see a 3G symbol on my iPhone.

Not sure where you are in the SE but I have never not had a 3G connection wherever I go in the SE, it's the very reason I have just signed another 24 month contract with them.

I tried all the other providers which were okay but it was hit and miss with signal coverage and Three was my last ditch attempt at getting something reasonably decent and even then I didn't hold out much hope...never looked back since, not only that their offers dump all over the other networks!

The only place I didn't get a very good signal was in my house but that was the same with all the other networks I tried, the only difference being was when I explained this to Three they sent me a Home Signal box and I now have 5 bars wherever I am in the house.

I'm planning to replace my Sky home broadband with this from 3 once we get 4G in my home town mainly because Sky broadband is so effing slow. Might as well save myself £15/mth and get a faster speed by simply tethering their unlimited data plan through my iPhone to my Mac. Can't wait.

It's worth noting 3 did say the speeds are averages and not top speeds. They probably are doing themselves a disservice by trying to be honest. Vodafone seem incapable of giving me a decent speed even on 3G at the moment so Inmay even give 3 a punt, especially as I don't really want to spends loads extra on a 4G prove plan when there is little 4G around at the moment. Also they bought some EE spectrum at 1800mhz and so will theoretically be able to support the iPhone 5 on 4G should they wish. I know they got some 800Mhz too. Their key issue may be lack of spectrum however if they keep growing fast.

"All you can eat data – what is it all about?
All you can eat data provides for worry free Internet use. Even if you used your phone for every minute of every
day you could only use, subject to TrafficSenseTM, around 1000GB each month. A usage cap has been set at a 1000GB in order for example to identify commercial use of the service, which is not permitted under the Terms for Three Services.
All-you-can-eat data is part of our Ultimate Internet Plan, The One Plan and our All in One 15 or All in One 25 Add-ons on Pay As You Go. It’s also part of some Talk and Text plans. It gives you all the internet use you need when you’re in the UK without the fear of “bill shock”. With all-you-can-eat data there are no hidden “fair use policies”. For international data roaming costs – please visit the roaming section of our website or page 23 in this Price Guide.
Charges for used, damaged or missing devices or accessories.
1. If you return your deivce to us under our returns policy with missing or damaged accessories, you will be charged as follows:"

I was sold the One Plan last year with all the "yes sir, all you can eat", only when I pushed the sales person did they say it had a 80GB soft cap.

Unlimited? That's what the home fibre's for TB's to your heart's content!!

I'm planning to replace my Sky home broadband with this from 3 once we get 4G in my home town mainly because Sky broadband is so effing slow. Might as well save myself £15/mth and get a faster speed by simply tethering their unlimited data plan through my iPhone to my Mac. Can't wait.

You won't get tethering for £15 per month unless they've changed their policy.